What exactly do you expect? PV has actually done better league positionally than Roy, who originally inherited a decent squad. When that side was run down and out of contract PV had to pick up the pieces and start over.

He did a very good job last year, incorporating lots of new players and a very different way of playing whilst maintaining a healthy midtable position (and a cup run, although they happen more by mistake these days).

This year we have maintained a reasonable midtable position but not been anything like as good to watch. You would hope the team would be more cohesive in a managers second year, but the opposite is true, at least as an attacking force.

For me, the issue is the quality and type of attacking player at the managers disposal. For a decade we've played defensive football and relied on moments of individual endeavour to get goals. Each of Zaha, Bolasie, Townsend, Ayew, Edouard etc wants (or wanted) the ball to feet so they can improvise. None of them make good runs off the ball to make sharp forward passing possible, or have any great gift for combination play.

That didn't matter so much until we started trying to have more of the ball. Our periods of possession and pressure come around more often now, but only serve to illustrate how infrequently our forwards are capable of coordinated movement or combinations. One of the forwards coming towards our midfield asking for the ball to feet is common, but how often do you see a well timed run behind the opponents defence? One of the forwards trying to find a way past two or three opponents (often without success) happens almost every time we attack, but you can wait weeks to see a simple one-two passing combination. In fact, one and two touch pass and move football in the opposition half appears to be an alien concept.

Pundits say that individualistic players are hard to play against because they are unpredictable, but actually they are entirely predictable - every time they get they will try and beat you by themselves, and if they can't, they will hold the ball for far too long before releasing it so the momentum of the attack disappears.

That's why we've scored so infrequently, but the manager only has the players he has.

I'd like to see a post-Zaha Palace involve at least one forward who runs off the ball at pace, and a midfielder who times runs into space. We can then develop a team around football intelligence and movement as well as individual endeavour, which will get the best from Eze and Olise. Both players are capable of beating their man occasionally, but we aren't getting any benefit from their passing range and awareness at the moment.

All the time that Vieira has to select from Ayew, Edouard and Mateta, I find it hard to criticise him for our stodgy forward play.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (22 Jan 2023 3.44pm)

Edited by TheBigToePunt (22 Jan 2023 3.46pm)

He did a very good job last year, incorporating lots of new players and a very different way of playing whilst maintaining a healthy midtable position (and a cup run, although they happen more by mistake these days).

This year we have maintained a reasonable midtable position but not been anything like as good to watch. You would hope the team would be more cohesive in a managers second year, but the opposite is true, at least as an attacking force.

For me, the issue is the quality and type of attacking player at the managers disposal. For a decade we've played defensive football and relied on moments of individual endeavour to get goals. Each of Zaha, Bolasie, Townsend, Ayew, Edouard etc wants (or wanted) the ball to feet so they can improvise. None of them make good runs off the ball to make sharp forward passing possible, or have any great gift for combination play.

That didn't matter so much until we started trying to have more of the ball. Our periods of possession and pressure come around more often now, but only serve to illustrate how infrequently our forwards are capable of coordinated movement or combinations. One of the forwards coming towards our midfield asking for the ball to feet is common, but how often do you see a well timed run behind the opponents defence? One of the forwards trying to find a way past two or three opponents (often without success) happens almost every time we attack, but you can wait weeks to see a simple one-two passing combination. In fact, one and two touch pass and move football in the opposition half appears to be an alien concept.

Pundits say that individualistic players are hard to play against because they are unpredictable, but actually they are entirely predictable - every time they get they will try and beat you by themselves, and if they can't, they will hold the ball for far too long before releasing it so the momentum of the attack disappears.

That's why we've scored so infrequently, but the manager only has the players he has.

I'd like to see a post-Zaha Palace involve at least one forward who runs off the ball at pace, and a midfielder who times runs into space. We can then develop a team around football intelligence and movement as well as individual endeavour, which will get the best from Eze and Olise. Both players are capable of beating their man occasionally, but we aren't getting any benefit from their passing range and awareness at the moment.

All the time that Vieira has to select from Ayew, Edouard and Mateta, I find it hard to criticise him for our stodgy forward play.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (22 Jan 2023 3.44pm)

Edited by TheBigToePunt (22 Jan 2023 3.46pm)

He did a very good job last year, incorporating lots of new players and a very different way of playing whilst maintaining a healthy midtable position (and a cup run, although they happen more by mistake these days).

This year we have maintained a reasonable midtable position but not been anything like as good to watch. You would hope the team would be more cohesive in a managers second year, but the opposite is true, at least as an attacking force.

For me, the issue is the quality and type of attacking player at the managers disposal. For a decade we've played defensive football and relied on moments of individual endeavour to get goals. Each of Zaha, Bolasie, Townsend, Ayew, Edouard etc wants (or wanted) the ball to feet so they can improvise. None of them make good runs off the ball to make sharp forward passing possible, or have any great gift for combination play.

That didn't matter so much until we started trying to have more of the ball. Our periods of possession and pressure come around more often now, but only serve to illustrate how infrequently our forwards are capable of coordinated movement or combinations. One of the forwards coming towards our midfield asking for the ball to feet is common, but how often do you see a well timed run behind the opponents defence? One of the forwards trying to find a way past two or three opponents (often without success) happens almost every time we attack, but you can wait weeks to see a simple one-two passing combination. In fact, one and two touch pass and move football in the opposition half appears to be an alien concept.

Pundits say that individualistic players are hard to play against because they are unpredictable, but actually they are entirely predictable - every time they get they will try and beat you by themselves, and if they can't, they will hold the ball for far too long before releasing it so the momentum of the attack disappears.

That's why we've scored so infrequently, but the manager only has the players he has.

I'd like to see a post-Zaha Palace involve at least one forward who runs off the ball at pace, and a midfielder who times runs into space. We can then develop a team around football intelligence and movement as well as individual endeavour, which will get the best from Eze and Olise. Both players are capable of beating their man occasionally, but we aren't getting any benefit from their passing range and awareness at the moment.

All the time that Vieira has to select from Ayew, Edouard and Mateta, I find it hard to criticise him for our stodgy forward play.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (22 Jan 2023 3.44pm)

Edited by TheBigToePunt (22 Jan 2023 3.46pm)